After months of intensive testing and evaluation, Michelin is launching a new rear tire construction for the upcoming MotoGP™ season.
The latest evolution of the MICHELIN Power Slick rear incorporates a new construction aimed at improving performance and stability for all riders and all machines, while being part of the “Long Lasting Performance” strategy. of Michelin. After a development phase on a simulator, this new MICHELIN Power Slick rear tire was tested for the first time by MotoGP riders in June 2019 in Barcelona. This session was followed by other sessions in Brno in the Czech Republic, Misano in Italy, before a unique opportunity offered by Michelin to test it during a race weekend – the first time ever that a test session had been possible. be organized during a MotoGP weekend. Thanks to the support of the drivers, IRTA and Dorna, a 20-minute session was set up on one of the most demanding circuits on the calendar, Phillip Island in Australia, where each driver was asked to complete at minimum 11 laps of 4,448 km. This extraordinary session allowed Michelin to collect a large amount of data, with teams and drivers able to concentrate solely on the evaluation of this new construction.
Following these convincing tests, Michelin tested this tire in two other Spanish test sessions at the end of 2019, in Valencia and Jerez. During these numerous tests, the new construction of the rear tire was associated with the same compounds – adapted to the circuits – that Michelin offered for the race weekend, in order to objectively compare the constructions. After all these tests and with all the information collected, Michelin technicians analyzed the data in Clermont-Ferrand and approved the launch of this new construction for the 2020 season.
Michelin will therefore offer the latest evolution of the MICHELIN Power Slick rear for the two pre-season test sessions scheduled for February in Malaysia and Qatar, before the big debut of this new rear tire in racing, still in Qatar, on the occasion of the first round of the 2020 MotoGP World Championship at the Losail International Circuit in Doha, Sunday March 8.
Piero Taramasso – Michelin Motorsport Two-Wheel Manager:
“After such an intensive testing program, we are happy to launch this new rear tire construction. We worked for several months on its development and thanks to the help and feedback from the drivers, we now know that this tire will improve performance for everyone. We have informed Dorna and IRTA of this change and given the teams and manufacturers all the specifications and technical data to allow them to refine the settings of the motorcycles in order to obtain optimal performance from this new rear tire. This is the first change in rear tire construction in two years and is a major step forward in the evolution of the MICHELIN Power Slick MotoGP range. This new construction is part of Michelin's “performance made to last” strategy, which guarantees constant performance throughout the race. We now look forward to seeing this new tire in racing conditions and breaking new records. »
